CALGARY — The head of the United Nurses of Alberta, the union that represents more than 30,000 nurses, and the province are fighting over the dates of negotiations for collective bargaining. The collective agreement was originally scheduled to expire at the end of March, but the two groups agreed to temporarily delay negotiations during the pandemic. “The rhetoric of the Minister of Finance seems to indicate that they want to start a war with nursing. They have already started a war with doctors, why are they going to extend it now and start a war with nurses in the middle of a pandemic? “We ask that there be no redundancies until a new collective agreement is reached and the province tells us what it provides.” The United Nurses of Alberta says it began contract negotiations this week with AHS to replace the current contract, which expires on March 31. “The ADF believes that any redundancies should be postponed until a new collective agreement is established,” he said. “AHS has said it will not agree to postpone redundancies until a new agreement is reached.” These agreements contained provisions to delay layoffs. The AHS`s latest offer included this provision and extended it until March 31, but the union wants to postpone all redundancies until a new agreement is reached. . In making a comment, you accept that CBC has the right to reproduce and publish all or part of that comment, in any manner that CBC chooses. Please note that CBC does not support the views expressed in the comments. Comments on this story are moderated in accordance with our mailing policies. Comments are welcome while open.
We reserve the right to comment at any time. “We are very concerned about the behavior of this government in these negotiations,” Harrigan said in a statement on Wednesday. AA A.A. Director of Labour Relations David Harrigan says the government appears to be looking for ideas for Ontario. “The ADF`s overall and unsotent demand for indeterminate job security is a shameful attempt to exploit a health crisis.” READ MORE: Alberta arbitration results do not lead to pay rises in cases involving UNA and ATA It says, with the pay cut, that the government wants to reduce wage premiums for employees with higher education, eliminate scheduled rest days for part-time workers and reduce overtime and bonuses for work evenings , nights and weekends. “That`s why we asked the A.A. to work with us to delay negotiations on its new treaty until we get out of the COVID era,” Kenney said. “We don`t want the Alberta government or the nurses` union to be distracted by contract negotiations at that time,” says the union, its proposed opening includes two per cent increases each year for a two-year contract and some improvements to the language of the contract. The union that represents registered nurses in the province says Alberta Health Services is calling for a four-year wage freeze and a withdrawal of other payments. David Harrigan, the director of labour relations with United Nurses of Alberta, says the province announced the dismissal of 750 nurses last year. The union`s president, Heather Smith, says the last time the government lobbied for such backtracking was in 1988, when nurses went on a national strike. The union represents more than 30,000 registered psychiatric nurses.
“I am very disappointed that Alberta`s United Nurses Union Leadership has denied stability during a pandemic,” Finance Minister Travis Toews said in a Peredese.